Large and small agencies alike must be nimble in execution in order to meet their clients' desires for both innovation and scale. This December, agency leaders will converge to discuss the latest tools, tactics, and strategies for finding the right balance between experience and experimentation. Topics addressed will include:

Methods for balancing the niche and mainstream elements of your marketing strategy

Agile planning for the smart agency

Qualified agency executives will be invited to join “The Aspen Group” -- a private peer-to-peer town hall designed by agency leaders for agency leaders dedicated to industry progression. It’s a "no BS" forum that’s not only a one-of-kind networking experience, but also provides unprecedented access to industry leaders and brands.

Special Event Features include:

iMedia Agency Awards

The Aspen Group

Breakout Master Tracks

Attendee Benefits

For a limited number of agencies/publishers/service providers, the iMedia Commerce Summit offers an exclusive and intimate opportunity to have meaningful interaction with brand and agency executives to help them address their digital marketing challenges and strategies. iMedia regulates the number of "seller" passes sold to ensure a rich buyer-to-seller ratio. In addition to collaboration with marketers during content sessions, iMedia has designed a program rich in both structured and unstructured networking opportunities.

Please be our guest and Request Your Invitation. Space is limited so act now. This summit is FREE to qualified brand and retail marketers and offers:

2 full days of peer-to-peer exchange

Informative, insightful sessions & keynotes on the most timely and critical issues

Roundtable discussions

Participant materials

Meals and networking functions, including iMedia's exclusive one:one program

What is it like being an x-Digital Agent on the corporate inside? Mike Scafidi will describe his digital agency to corporate journey and what the next generation digital agency can do to prepare to meet corporate needs.

Inspired by the 1960's game show, we'll play three rounds of "What's My Line?" - agency style. Get ready to watch our zany hosts guide six contestants as they compete to guess the job titles of our three mystery guests. May the best inquisitor win!

Is Modern HR Moving Fast Enough to Capture the Opportunities in Emerging Trends?

In today's agency marketplace, roles and resources are constantly changing as technology, consumer behaviors, and demographic patterns evolve. The days of "silo-ed" roles and static career patterns are over as companies search for agile, nimble resources who have their fingers on new tech and data analysis, changing business models, and client management skills. Modern HR needs to be as the forefront of these searches, infusing talent from other disciplines such as marketing, finance, strategy, and operations to understand what is happening in the marketplace and adjust accordingly.

In fact, HR leadership needs to influence beyond the traditional role of resource specialist, and through direct interactions with constituents such as government, investors, thought leaders, and global collective movements, become an influential force on the management team.

Points for discussion:

How do you structure resource growth in a way that creates loyal, mature, and hardworking assets?

How do you build modern teams with Millennials?

Are job titles/roles more fluid now? If so, how do you recruit? How do you leverage big data to recruit better, going beyond grades and recommendations?

We have already passed the eleventh hour: Programmatic marketing is here to stay, and its growth is as assured as the demise of Blockbuster, the ascension of Netflix, the crash of Kodak, and rise of the smartphone.

What are global brands thinking about related to programmatic marketing? Journey through the Top 10 considerations of global brands and the benefits adoption of programmatic marketing will drive. Get prepared for the questions your clients will be asking you - today, if not tomorrow.

Identity can mean many things for both consumers and brands in the social and digital media world. As social media platforms continue to evolve and grow, many consumers take on "identities" by using or creating signature hashtags, developing personal Pinterest boards, commenting on news and celebrities, and submitting creative content to engage with brands. Marketers are mirroring the approach, tapping consumer and influencer engagement, content, activity, and data to build each brand's online presence and personality. Our panelists will explore who owns the content and data being shared, and discuss how brands can join social and popular discussions surrounding events like the Grammys or the "Big Game." What are the best media and native ad-buying strategies to own the conversation online?

Whether it's managing your clients, growing a global brand, or going on a first date, how you tell your story is vital to your success. Discover the tools of narrative improvisation and how these tools can help you brainstorm and problem solve, get the best out of your team and create new connections, and, ultimately, tell your unique story. Taught by directors of the award-winning Impro Theatre improvisational theatre company, this lecture/demo will provide you with the simple skills you need to aid and abet creativity and communication. Attendees will participate!

12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
Lunch (Boxed)

1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
A by-appointment networking program for buyers and sellers, during which each has an opportunity to participate in a series of 10-minute introductory meeting. Sponsored by:
More

one:one provides a fantastic opportunity to pre-schedule meetings with the clients and partners that will take your business to the next level. In order to make the most of the one:one program, we recommend registering for this event early to view the attendee list and secure meetings with the most relevant companies.

Laser Tag
Guests will enjoy a fun-filled evening of “Capture the Flag” laser tag. Groups will be divided into teams of six and are outfitted with high-tech laser sensor vests. Armed with laser guns, groups set off in fast paced action to capture the opposing team’s flag first. The first team to capture the flag wins each round of tag.

Shelling Adventure
Very informative tour with a chance to see an abundance of wildlife in one of southwest Florida's most pristine estuary bays where dolphins, ospreys, egrets and herons are often seen. Stop at Lover's Key State Park where the guests will comb the beach for a variety of Florida shells.

Kayaking
Experience the local knowledge of the guides as they explain the Florida vegetation, wildlife and real estate in the surrounding area. Kayakers travel through the mangrove islands that are inhabited by an abundance of wildlife from dolphins, ospreys, egrets and bald eagles.

The Millennial generation, born 1982-2003, thinks in images more than in words. As a result, visual IQ scores have gone up at twice the rate of verbal IQ scores in the last two decades. The Millennials' preference for video games and user-generated video content, combined with a penchant for absorbing information in packets rather than in dedicated circuits, has made short-form content the newest challenge for ad agencies and marketers seeking to connect to the largest generation in American history.

In this talk, the critically acclaimed co-author of three books on the Millennial generation, Morley Winograd, will provide new insights on how to meet this challenge by aligning with the beliefs and behaviors of America's most diverse, yet unified, generation. Drawing on his work advising brands and commercial producers, Winograd will lead off a session designed to help everyone communicate in brief video clips with meaning and purpose.

Social video platforms like VINE are exploding, and influencer content is the accelerant. But with rapid growth comes increased risk - particularly when advertisers and influencers attempt to formalize a business relationship to take advantage of this growth. To date, much of the activity on these platforms has been centered on "social celebrities." But this leaves a considerable amount of value on the table. Our discussion will focus on the opportunities to scale this engagement for agencies and brands, how to use metrics for success, and the pitfalls we should all avoid. Key topics are:

Audience transparency

Tools needed to uncover the black box of new social platforms

Identifying relevant influencers + audiences for your campaign

Reducing operational pain points

Influencers: How to identify relevant ad campaigns for your voice

Optimal execution: What is best for the audience?

Identifying realistic campaign goals

Content development: Who is the star of the show?

Publishing to the influencer's channel vs. to the brand's channel, i.e. audience fracturing

A: Blurred Lines: Planning TV & Video in a Converging World of Screens

Television and video are converging. Consumers are viewing media in a device-agnostic way. How can agencies use technology to help plan and buy in a way that maximizes their clients' advertising dollars and achieves the right objectives in this fragmenting world of screens? How can you reach TV viewers with video, and what can video insights tell us about television viewing behavior? Find out when Videology shares case studies and best practices for making smarter media decisions within the new media mix.

B: The Surprising Lessons Learned by Buying a Few Billion Viewable Impressions

Viewability affects every member of the online advertising ecosystem. Now, advertisers can verify whether their ads are being seen, publishers are continuing to work on creating viewable inventory, and media vendors are rushing to create solutions that increase viewability. However, there's still a big learning curve in the industry. In this session, Scott Spaulding and Aniq Rahman will provide an unbiased report on the current state of viewability, as learned from years of testing and development.

While mobile advertising has come a long way, it's still relatively new territory for many brands. Mobile is unique in that it enables marketers to tie online activity to real-time, real-world, behaviors. As consumers move throughout their days, constantly interacting with their mobile devices, we now have insights to connect the worlds of online and offline sales - and back to specific campaigns and marketing efforts.

In this session, we'll walk through key findings from our industry-first mobile ad measurement study and discuss best practices in using location targeting and creative enhancement to drive foot traffic. Through the analysis of more than 70 mobile campaigns for 12 leading brands, xAd will share key details of the report that explores the most effective mobile campaign design techniques in three key verticals: retail, restaurant, and auto.

What is it like being an x-Digital Agent on the corporate inside? Mike Scafidi will describe his digital agency to corporate journey and what the next generation digital agency can do to prepare to meet corporate needs.

2:30 PM - 4:50 PM
Free Time

4:50 PM - 6:40 PM
A by-appointment networking program for buyers and sellers, during which each has an opportunity to participate in a series of 10-minute introductory meeting. Sponsored by:
More

one:one provides a fantastic opportunity to pre-schedule meetings with the clients and partners that will take your business to the next level. In order to make the most of the one:one program, we recommend registering for this event early to view the attendee list and secure meetings with the most relevant companies.

iMedia Summit attendees represent over $3 billion in digital marketing spend and hail from some of the biggest companies in the Fortune-500. High-value, customizable sponsorship opportunities are available, but won't last. Contact Oscar Gardner, Sales Director, for more information.